


how it feels to be replaced

by robyndoesntlikeyou



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angry TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Angst, Bad Parent Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Bad Parenting, Family Dynamics, Family Issues, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Insecurity, Older Sibling Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Phil Watson Adopts Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Suicidal Thoughts, Technoblade & Phil Watson Friendship (Video Blogging RPF), does that tag apply if phil has just. replaced his son with another son, i am not projecting shut up, im pretty sure it does, in which tommy is a dick to ranboo and then realizes why and starts being a dick to himself, technically, techno and tommy arent related in this but tommy still sees techno as a brother-like figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29549460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robyndoesntlikeyou/pseuds/robyndoesntlikeyou
Summary: Ranboo was different.He looked like them. He fit right in - the cloaks, the emeralds, the braids.And Tommy hated him. Tommy hated him so much.Because Ranboo was what he never could have been.
Relationships: Ranboo & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & Technoblade, Ranboo & Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Ranboo & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 412





	how it feels to be replaced

**Author's Note:**

> this one is a bit dark folks
> 
> before we get into it: this is not boreal boys slander i swear to god i love ranboo so much i could never hate him, i love the new arctic commune dynamics
> 
> Big Bad Warnings are self-hatred, self esteem issues, and just pretty heavy self-destructive thoughts
> 
> title is from 'how it feels to be replaced (demo)' by alec benjamin. enjoy folks :)

Ranboo was different.

He looked taller. His hair was longer, wavy and immaculate - a small braid is curled behind his right ear, and from his left, freshly-pierced, is a golden chain with a glittering emerald dangling from it. 

A spectral blue cloak, lined with white mink fur, hung from his shoulders down to his calves, the front linked together with three neat golden cords. Beneath, a high-collared dress shirt, and a rich navy cummerbund spanning his waist. Black dress pants, and polished, knee-high boots. 

He looked like them. He fit right in - the cloaks, the emeralds, the braids.

He held himself differently. His back was straight, his posture adjusted. He shifted his shoulders back when he walked, and he stepped and moved smoothly, with purpose. He was... regal. Delicately vicious-looking.

His eyes were different. The way they swept across the room, glimmering with knowledge, was new. The way his eyelashes fluttered when he blinked in strange patterns, the way his tail swished, the way his ears flicked. The way he gripped his sword, twirled it in his hand. The pendant that hung around his neck, a glassy green eye, pupil slitted and glowing.

This Ranboo was different. More mature, wiser, experienced, and stronger.

At times, the former Ranboo shone through.

The smile on his face and the shimmer of mirth in his eyes when Technoblade set a hand on his shoulder. The way he hunched over and tilted his head downwards when talking to Tubbo and Puffy. The way he spoke of Fundy with such raw, subtle fondness. The way his eyes widened and his words came out jumbled after being praised or complimented. The soothing tongue he wielded. The spry, clawed hands. The razor-sharp wit.

The thing Tommy hated the most was that Ranboo was _different_ now. This wasn't the Ranboo he had known, the Ranboo who had visited him in exile or the Ranboo that had turned a blind eye when he appeared in L'manburg with Technoblade. No; this Ranboo was different. Deadlier, more outspoken, and more versatile. 

And Tommy hated him. Tommy hated him so much. 

Because Ranboo was what he never could have been.

Ranboo was Technoblade's apprentice, in every sense of the word. Techno trained and taught and influenced him. Regardless of what the Piglin hybrid's intentions were, they were thick as thieves, and the weeks they had spent together in the tundra would not be easily forgotten.

Techno treated Ranboo like family. Like a brother or a son. The way the piglin stared at the ender hybrid was... gentle. The way he tousled Ranboo's hair, careful not to catch his nails in the strands, steering away from the braid behind his ear. The way he glanced and subtly doted. The way he smiled at him, so full of fondness.

Ranboo simply smiled and accepted it as Techno prattled on about something or other, and sprang into action when he was needed, and was always there at the perfect time, and always said the right thing, and was always flawlessly circumspect and self-sacrificing simultaneously.

Tommy hated him because he was the precise visage of something the blond _could_ have been. He hated him because his own father seemed to love him more. He hated him because the person he thought was his friend, the person he had always seen as an older brother, had turned his back and instead picked up Ranboo.

Cowardly, arrogant, selfish Ranboo. But even in his head, the words sound wrong.

Ranboo wasn't cowardly, he was careful. Ranboo wasn't arrogant, he was impartial and decisive. Ranboo wasn't selfish at all, no. The ender hybrid was completely and utterly selfless. 

And then there was Tommy. Impulsive, action-driven, complicated. So very broken. Defiant to the point of recklessness. Self-destructive and utterly worthless, but still vain and overbearing. Lazy. Crude. Unempathetic.

He could never compete. Ranboo and Tommy were _nothing_ alike.

And yet, Tommy remained jealous, caustic and bitter.

He didn't hate Ranboo. He hated the feeling, the inescapable, all-consuming, painful feeling of being replaced.

**Author's Note:**

> i was listening to alec benjamin one day and simply Being Angry And Sad and decided to project the anger into a writing piece instead of stewing - this fic was the product of that
> 
> a few things abt the tags of the fic:  
> yes i do miss tommy and techno's dynamic. i feel that this piece is true to tommy's character, bc i do feel like he would think techno and phil were replacing him with someone who was less 'difficult' - which is why there's no OOC tags. there's a self-hatred tag but no 'depressed tommyinnit' tag bc technically tommy doesnt outright express any symptoms of depression in the fic, but *does* explicitly describe some pretty heavy self-hatred and self esteem issues. there is a 'fluff and angst' tag bc there are happy bits of the fic, however they are seen from tommy's eyes looking from outside the happy dynamic. tommy isnt included in the fluff but there is fluff described in the fic (about phil, techno and ranboo's dynamic)
> 
> just a bit of clarification to avoid any confusion abt tags in the comments :)
> 
> quick a/n to say YOU GUYS ARE FUCKING INSANE 2000 HITS IN A WEEK WHAT THE F U C K THANK YOU


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